MR. HADLEY: Senator Daschle, thank you very much for those kind words.
I'm very grateful. Ambassador Solomon, members of the board of the U.S.
Institute of Peace, distinguished guests, I want to thank you for
inviting me to join you for lunch today. This is a great day for the
United States Institute of Peace. Today we celebrate the new permanent
home of this truly remarkable organization. Once your new facility is
complete, the Institute will be able to expand its efforts toward
accomplishing its urgent mission: to prevent and resolve violent
conflicts; to promote post-conflict stability and development; and to
increase peacebuilding capacity, tools and intellectual capital.

This morning the President discussed the surest way to prevent conflicts
and promote the long-term stability in the world -- and that is to help
more people live in freedom and to help more nations build the
institutions of liberty. The President renewed America's commitment to
help nations build these institutions. And he also identified a new
challenge: nations struggling to build these institutions while under
fire from terrorists and other transnational threats. The President
spoke about some of the ways the United States and our partners are
meeting this new challenge, and this afternoon I'd like to expand a bit
more on those efforts.

In the 20th century, most of the security challenges we faced were
rooted in the behavior and ideology of states, especially those states
darkened by fascism and communism. In the 21st century, we face
transnational threats that operate in many states, but that call no
single state home. These threats include terrorist networks, organized
crime, and traffickers in drugs, weapons, money, and even human beings.
These threats operate like parasites within the body of the state, and
the simple truth is that many states are simply too weak to fight them
off.

These parasites have considerable resources while their hosts have few.
Well-armed terrorist groups, well-funded often by drug money, defend
their safe havens with brutal violence, while the governments under
siege by these groups often struggle just to stand up basic police
protection for their people. It's a mismatch. And of course,
governments are weakest during post-conflict upheavals -- after wars or
the collapse of brutal dictatorships.

Regrettably, in a post-9/11 world we must see these weak states as
potential incubators for terrorists and other transnational threats --
threats that could reach our homeland or the homelands of our friends
and allies. So we have a vital national security interest in helping
these states strengthen themselves and fend off these threats.

The challenge is to help post-conflict states or failing states or
states under siege to transition to a place where their people are
secure, democratic institutions are functioning, and development
assistance can help speed them along the path to prosperity.

We are trying to meet this challenge in a comprehensive way. First,
we're making clear our goals; second, we're helping to provide
security; third, we're developing greater civilian capacities; fourth,
we are building stronger international partnerships; fifth, we are
strengthening our partnerships with non-governmental organizations; and
sixth, we are helping more states invest in their people. Let me go
through these one at a time.

First, we're making clear our goals, by defining the institutions of
liberty that are necessary for success. As the President said this
morning, these institutions include a democratic system of government, a
vibrant free press, an independent judiciary, a free enterprise system,
and places of worship where people are free to practice their faith.

Helping nations strengthen the institutions of liberty does not mean
imposing our own form of these institutions upon them. In many nations,
these institutions will look quite different from those in the United
States. They will reflect the unique history and culture of the nations
themselves. Yet these institutions are necessary to give the people of
these nations the realistic hope of a better life and to help strengthen
the resistance of those nations to the transnational threats of the 21st
century.

Second, to build the institutions of liberty we are helping weak and
failing states provide security for their people. As the President said
this morning, the biggest lesson learned in Iraq and Afghanistan is that
a basic level of security is required for progress in building the
institutions of liberty. The United States and our partners are helping
states under siege improve security in several ways.

We are helping to improve security by training and equipping other
nations' security forces. In Lebanon, the United States has provided
vehicles, arms, and communications equipment that can strengthen the
Lebanese Army in fighting terrorist groups and resisting armed militias.
Some of this equipment is required very quickly and there is a
continuing need for training assistance to these countries. Secretaries
Gates and Rice want to be able to offer this type of assistance in a
timely way to more nations, but we need the help of Congress to extend
and expand the authorities that make this type of assistance possible.

We are helping to improve security by training other nations' police
forces. The United States co-founded the Center for Excellence for
Stability Police Units, located in Italy. This center helps "train the
trainers" who then train stability police units to deploy to conflict
areas around the world. Through this initiative, we have helped train
1,400 trainers from 26 countries since 2004.

We are helping to improve security by training international
peacekeepers. Through the U.S. Global Peace Operations Initiative, the
United States has helped train more than 41,000 peacekeepers from 45
countries, and more than 35,000 of them are already deployed in 18
peacekeeping operations around the world.

Third, to help build the institutions of liberty, we are developing
greater civilian capacities. Providing security requires several
different skill sets, and building the institutions of liberty requires
even more. To help local leaders strengthen the rule of law, we need
judges and prosecutors. To help them rebuild infrastructure, we need
civil engineers. To help them advance social justice, we need health
care workers and teachers. These skills are found in civilian
government agencies and in the private sector. Yet they must be able to
operate in dangerous environments and to cooperate with security forces,
whether they are the nation's own forces, international peacekeepers, or
the military forces of the United States and our allies and partners.

We can help develop this civilian capacity by building a Civilian
Response Corps. As the President described this morning, a Civilian
Response Corps would include 250 full-time civilian government experts
able to deploy within 48 hours, 2,000 more U.S. government employees
able to leave their regular jobs and deploy within 60 days, and 2,000
civilian experts outside the government pre-cleared and pre-trained to
deploy quickly as well. Building a Civilian Response Corps is a
priority for the President, and we urge Congress to make it a priority
and to act quickly so this force can become a reality.

To help develop civilian capabilities for the long term, we must
strengthen the State Department and other federal agencies such as the
United States Agency for International Development. The President has
approved the expansion of the Foreign Service by 1,100 officers and
USAID by 300 officers. We're also strengthening these agencies by
increasing the number of officers trained in key languages.
Strengthening these agencies also means expanding exchange programs that
allow students and professionals to share their experiences. And
strengthening these agencies means making our foreign assistance
programs as effective as we can in helping nations build the
institutions of liberty.

Fourth, to help build the institutions of liberty we are strengthening
our international partnerships. Other nations have created
organizations to tap into their civilian expertise, including Britain's
Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit and Canada's CANADEM. As more nations
develop their civilian capabilities, multilateral organizations must
step forward with planning and coordinating mechanisms that will allow
all our nations to work together in the field. Interoperability must
become as central a concept for our civilian capabilities as it is for
our military.

One encouraging sign is the establishment of the United Nations
Peacebuilding Commission. The Commission was created to help convene
all the actors committed to help a particular country and work with them
to develop a common strategy. This approach has been used in Sierra
Leone, Burundi, and Guinea-Bissau, yet it has much more potential. By
fusing more of its planning on -- by focusing more of its planning on
building the institutions of freedom and democracy, the Commission can
become even more effective in helping to prevent conflict and
instability.

Fifth, to help the institutions of liberty, we are strengthening our
partnerships with non-governmental organizations. NGOs are some of the
most dynamic and energetic partners we have, and they are helping build
free institutions in Iraq, Kosovo, and around the world. Our challenge
is to ease the culture shock that many NGOs and security forces
experience when they must work closely together. The U.S. military
recognizes the value added by partners who are not in uniform, and is
getting used to working with NGOs that chart an independent course to
achieve common objectives. In turn, we must find a way and more ways
for NGOs to be able to accept the security support offered by the
military, without feeling they are compromising their independence.

Sixth, to help build the institutions of liberty, we are encouraging
nations to invest in their people. As security grows and governments
begin to function more effectively, they will take more responsibility
for the future of their people. We have an obligation to help as these
governments make the choices and investments that will lead their people
to enduring peace and prosperity.

Our nation's development strategy includes historic commitments to fight
HIV/AIDS, malaria and neglected tropical diseases. It also includes the
innovative approach of the Millennium Challenge Corporation. By signing
a compact with the MCC, a nation commits to specific goals to improve
health and education, fight corruption, and expand political and
economic freedom. The United States, in turn, agrees to help and back
projects that can produce transformational change in the countries that
receive those grants. We urge Congress to recognize the value of this
approach, and fully fund the President's request for the Millennium
Challenge Corporation.

Our development approach also includes helping nations expand the role
of women in society. This is a matter of morality and a matter of basic
math. No nation that cuts off half its population from opportunity will
be as productive or prosperous as it should be.

Finally, our development approach includes a commitment to open markets
by lowering barriers to trade and investment, and rejecting the
protectionism that keeps millions in developing countries stuck in
poverty. We are working to open global markets by concluding an
ambitious Doha Round agreement this year that will allow trade to lift
millions out of poverty.

As states build effective and accountable institutions for their people,
they need the help of the United States Institute of Peace. Each nation
making this journey can benefit from your resources, and each nation in
turn can become a resource for you as you evaluate results, develop best
practices, enrich the literature of the field, and promote greater
understanding of what actually works in the real world.

The work of the Institute is already making a difference, but your
greatest impact is yet to come. Your new home will include a Public
Education Center that will draw students from across the nation and
around the world. These students will learn what can be done to help
prevent conflicts and advance peace in our world.

By broadening minds and opening hearts, the United States Institute of
Peace will help inspire future generations to find even more ways to
serve the cause of peace and freedom. And they in turn will help create
a better world.